Dunedin

Dunedin was our next port of call and we travelled along the coast road through an area called The Caitlins.
We called in at a couple of places on the way and saw a solitary male fur seal hauled up on some rocks. Tony said it was one of the windiest roads he had driven along, it seemed to go on forever, glad it wasn’t me driving.

Our main reason for coming to Dunedin was to travel on the Taieri Gorge Railway; apparently it’s one of the world’s great train trips.
The train took us on a 77km trip to Middlemarch, crossing magnificent stone and wrought iron viaducts and bridges, through tunnels with the rock just inches from the side of the train, and sheer drops to the rivers below. We crossed the Wingatui Viaduct which is supposed to be the largest wrought iron structure in the southern hemisphere.
The train journey lived up to its claim, once again amazing scenery, so different from what we have already in other parts of both the North and South Island.
Middlemarch was, well think of one horse and town and put them in same sentence and that says it all. We wandered about for two minutes, had a coffee and headed back to the train where it was decidedly warmer. What they expected us to do there for an hour I will never know.
The temperature has dropped; it has been as low as 13 degrees and a bit wet.
A trip to the Otago peninsula was our next destination. It’s where there is a colony of breeding albatross. We got there to find we had just missed one of the guided tours. You are not allowed to go and see them without a guide. The next tour was an hour away so we decided not to bother; it was again a bit chilly. The drive out was worth it though.
The Botanical gardens next, another aviary was beckoning. The birdman of Hyde was in his element with the talking cockatoos, makes a change from me asking who’s a pretty boy.
On to the Otago Museum, (it was warm), very modern and interesting with amazing artefacts.

We leave for Christchurch tomorrow, it’s hard to believe that we have been in New Zealand for nearly seven weeks and it will be our final destination before leaving for Australia on 19th December